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crucial floor test, the party held a meeting where the decision to boycott the house proceeding was taken.
NEW DELHI: The Shiv Sena on Friday morning boycotted the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha. Ahead of the crucial floor test, the party held a meeting where the decision to boycott the house proceeding was taken.
No-confidence motion debate Live Updates
“Absolutely not. We haven’t even signed our attendance,” Anandrao Adsul, Lok Sabha MP from Shiv Sena when asked if his party will take part in the trust vote.
Earlier in the day, party mouthpiece Saamna carried an editorial which read that the entire exercise would make the PM Narendra Modi-led NDA government more accountable.
“Even the opposition knows it does not have the numbers to make the government fall. But the no-confidence motion brought about has not been with the view to topple the government but to make the Modi government more accountable,” said the article.
The editorial further predicted that the government will give complex answers when attacked with a slew of questions and that certain tactics would be used which would show Indian democracy in a bad light.
On Thursday, reports of Shiv Sena supporting the BJP-led NDA government during the opposition-sponsored no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha emerged.
A source close to Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said that party will take part in the no-trust vote, saying it has decided to back the government in the Lok Sabha tomorrow.
According to PTI, Sena chief whip Chandrakant Khaire had issued a whip asking all members to be present in the House when the motion is taken up for discussion tomorrow and support the government.

MP Bhartruhari Mahtab addressed the Speaker of the Lok Sabha Sumitra Mahajan stating that BJD will not be a part of the session.
NEW DELHI: The Biju Janata Dal leaders staged a walkout in the current Parliament session on Friday where the no-confidence motion was discussed. BJD leader Bhartruhari Mahtab addressed the Speaker of the Lok Sabha Sumitra Mahajan stating that both UPA and NDA government has done injustice to the people of Odisha.
He said, “the UPA government rule of ten years and four years of NDA has done injustice to the people of Odisha..this discussion will not be in any way fruitful for the people of India, therefore, we are walking out and not participating in the discussion.”
The walkout by BJD lawmakers meant that they will abstain from voting.
BJD had not revealed their stand on the no-confidence motion and with 19 Members of Parliament, they had the fifth largest number of members in the Lower House.
The walkout comes after the BJP leader had a meeting in Delhi on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government faces its first no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
Click here to check the live updates.
The debate started at 11 am on Friday and is likely to continue till late evening.
The treasury and opposition benches will lock horns over a host of issues even as the former is confident of winning the no-trust motion based on the number game in the Lok Sabha.
A few hours before the debate, the Modi reminded the Lok Sabha MPs that the entire country would be following the proceedings in Parliament closely.

A few hours of rain submerged Ludhiana like never before. The situation was no different in other Punjab cities where flooding is an annual ritual due to ill-maintained drainage system, choked culverts and haphazard growth. HT takes a look at why Ludhiana, Bathinda, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Patiala – three of them on ‘Smart Cities’ map – go underwater every time it rains.
Punjab’s industrial hub knee-deep in mess
A spell of heavy rain lasting a few hours for two days starting Monday brought Ludhiana, the industrial hub of Punjab, to a grinding halt. Whether it was posh residential areas, arterial roads or slum areas in the walled city, everyone faced the wrath of rain.
While many schools had to declare a holiday as the classrooms were flooded and walls of two government schools collapsed, water of the Buddha Nullah entering houses worsened the plight of residents. The city witnessed hours-long traffic jams at several places and some incidents of road cave-ins were also reported.
The reasons behind this civic breakdown are not hard to find.
Having found place in the central government’s first list of 20 smart cities, Ludhiana does not have proper storm-water drainage system, as a result of which most parts of the city submerge in rainwater during monsoon every year. The sewer lines laid decades back are not able to cope with the pressure of a rising population and rapid industrialisation.
The sewer lines, especially those in the old city areas, are not able to bear the pressure as they are overloaded. Railway station Road, New Kundanpuri, Madhopuri, Focal Point, Haibowal, Chandigarh Road, Millerganj are among the areas that get flooded every year.
Rattan Singh, a resident of New Kundanpuri, said, “Contaminated water is being supply in our area due to choked sewer lines but the authorities are paying no heed to this.”
Such is the situation that the Punjab local bodies department last September had submitted an affidavit in the Punjab and Haryana high court that stormwater drainage will be installed in the state’s cities. But nothing has been done yet.
The Buddha Nullah overflows almost every year due to the authorities’ failure to desilt it before monsoon. Locals say the municipal corporation has not cleaned drains and sewer lines in the city, leading to waterlogging.
This year also, the civic body started the desilting process one-and-a-half months late due to financial crunch.
Poor drainage: Amritsar civic body caught on the wrong foot
Though the state government and the civic authorities have spent crores to improve infrastructure in Amritsar, no system has been devised to ameliorate the drainage system. As a result, a few hours of rain throws life out of gear with waterlogged roads and storm water entering houses.
The situation has turned from bad to worse over the years even as Amritsar is being developed as a Smart City under the Union government project. Half-an-hour of rain on Wednesday exposed ill-preparedness of the municipal corporation for the monsoon.
With the increase in population, the underground sewerage system remains choked at many places. An MC official said the city has 200km of main sewer line in 85 wards. The MC deployed super suction machines to de-silt the main line, but the work is going on at a slow pace, he said. Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu said only 40% of the total de-silting work has been completed in the city so far.
The city also has 28 disposal plants to draw water from sewer lines. “But this system doesn’t work due to frequent power cuts during rains. The suction pumps also turn ineffective during heavy rain,” said an MC official. Though the MC was advised to lay storm sewer system, the MC has failed to do so.
“Interlocking tiles laid during the previous SAD-BJP government’s regime along roads, gardens and public places are also to blame for the situation as they obstruct rainwater percolation,” said the mayor. The chronic flooding points in the city are Hall gate to Ram Bagh gate, area near bus stand, Heritage Street, Lawrence Road and Ranjit Avenue.
City resident Satish Kapoor said the sewerage system in Amritsar is too old and the MC is not paying any heed towards revamping it.
Deepak Babbar, president of Mission Agaaz, an NGO, said due to the poor design of the holy city, residents face problem of waterlogging every monsoon. The government should come up with a plan to spare some area on both sides of all roads of the city for greenbelts.
Clogged sewers are Bathinda’s bane
Bathinda is no different from any other Punjab city when it comes to waterlogging menace. Even a moderate spell of rain is enough to submerge several parts of the city. Though the issue is not new to low-lying areas, other parts of Bathinda also bore the brunt this year, courtesy: No desilting of clogged sewer lines and lack of storm drains.
Encroachment around the city’s five buffer ponds, coupled with the non-clearance of silt in them, became another contributor to this perennial issue.
Bathinda MC commissioner Rishi Pal Singh blames the private firm, Triveni Constructions, which is responsible for maintenance of sewerage system, for the mismanagement.
Firm’s general manager VB Shivangi claims that Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board had assigned them the work of maintaining desilited sewer lines, but handed over the choked lines. MC pays Rs 6 crore every year to the board to get such works done through the private firm. Board’s executive engineer Shiv Das Kansal says he will look into the issue.
However, MC officials claim that one rainwater pond has been desilted, effect of which is visible in the adjoining areas. A sewerage and water supply project worth Rs 188 crore is stalled due to lack of funds. Rishi Pal says they would have to secure loans to resume the work.
Sirki Bazaar, Power House Road, Civil Lines area, besides Mall Road, Paras Ram Nagar and periphery of the District Administrative Complex are the worst-hit spots where water gets accumulated up to three feet following a heavy downpour. A trader in Sirki Bazaar, Shashi Kumar, rues, “Many a time we had to shut our shops for three consecutive days due to deluge.”
Another businessman Mahesh Kumar says, “I have been witnessing this for three decades..”
The MC on Thursday took the onus of desilting the sewer lines during a meeting of finance and contract committee. Punjab finance minister and Bathinda (urban) MLA Manpreet Singh Badal has sanctioned funds for the same, and the MC will also be pooling in.
Woes brimming over in Royal City
A few hours of rain often results in a deluge-like situation in Patiala, hometown of chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh.
Around 110mm of rainfall in past 15 days has exposed ill-preparedness of the municipal corporation and the district administration to tackle the waterlogging problem.
The municipal corporation (MC) and the drainage department claimed to have started de-silting of main three main sewer lines passing through the city. Though the authorities say Rs 2 crore have been spent on cleaning 12km sewer-cum-drainage lines before monsoon, the situation has not improved.
“Had the de-silting work not been done before rains, the situation could have gone out of hand,” said Suresh Kumar, MC executive engineer.
The absence of dedicated storm sewer lines is the root cause of the situation. “It is a huge project that requires large amount of funds. For the time being, we are using sewer lines to flush out rainwater,” Kumar said.
Though the drainage department claims of completing de-silting work of Jacob drain and Patiala drain (Vaddi Nadi), the waterlogging problem persists in the city. An MC official said the work orders for cleaning both the drain were issued in the last week of June, but the started a few days ago.
Five chronic flooding spot in the city are Model Town, colonies situated in and around the Lehal area, Khalsa Mohalla and Lahori Gate, ISBT and the Tripari area. Bablu Kumar, a city resident, said: “A short spell of rain leaves roads inundated for several hours. It is better to make our own arrangements than to depend on authorities.”
Nawal Kishore, a shopkeeper, said: “We have built three feet wall outside our shops so water does not enter
our establishments.The municipal corporation has failed to find a permanent solution to the problem.”
Manpreet Singh, a resident of Ajit Nagar, said: “What’s the use of spending crores on cleaning the storm sewer lines if there is no respite from waterlogging?”
Being rain-ready a far cry in Jalandhar
The two-hour rain on Wednesday exposed how ill-prepared Jalandhar, a would-be smart city, is to tackle waterlogging when there is a heavy downpour.
Choked sewer pipelines due to plastic coupled with the absence of proper sewerage cleaning led to flooding of the majority of roads and low-lying areas in the city.
The worst-hit areas were 120 Feet Road, Sodal Road, Preet Nagar Road, Ladowali Road, Basti Adda Road, Football Chowk, district administrative complex, Domoria Bridge, Basti Sheikh, New Railway Road and Phagwara Gate.
Jatinder Singh Khaira, an assistant professor at a city college, said, “I left for office at 8am and by the time I reached Kapurthala Chowk, it had started raining heavily. We moved only a few metres in an hour.”
Though Jalandhar along with Amritsar was included in the smart city list by the Union government in September 2016, the civic body has managed to cover only about 8% area with stormwater drainage while the existing sewage pipes are small in size to handle a heavy flow of water.
Even as the civic body has been using super suction machines to clear the choked sewer pipes for over a year, but they proved of little used when the city got waterlogged.
The stagnant rainwater has created potholes on the roads in the city’s posh localities such as Cool road, Income Tax Colony, Model Town and Mall Road, giving an open invitation to mishaps.
The Congress-ruled MC House, facing a huge fund crunch, apparently does not have any plan to tackle heavy rain in future. Making the matters worse, the civic body staff has been on strike for the last four days to protest against non-payment of their June salaries.
“Since only 8% area of the city is currently covered under stormwater drainage, this is why water took so much time to recede,” said Kishor Chand Bansal, superintending engineer (operation and maintenance).
In the last financial year, MC had spent Rs 45 lakh on cleanliness and maintenance of sewerage and water supply system in the city.
‘Stopgap measures are not a remedy,’ says Rajinder Sharma, ex-chief town planner, Punjab
Why drainage system fails in Punjab cities during rains?
The problem is lack of coordination among different government agencies and unplanned development. In most of the cases, dwelling units comes up first and drainage system is laid later. Colonisers care two hoots about standard gradient in an area, causing flooding.
Who’s should be held accountable?
People who prepare the blueprints of cities. Also, there is a lack of enforcement of rules. The government departments impose hefty charges such as building plan fee, house tax and development charges but fail to provide basic facilities.
Why nothing changes on ground?
Stop-gap arrangements are no remedy. The government agencies have the tendency to make cosmetic changes. Why can’t they clean every drain?
Why are depts failing to keep pace with changing needs?
We can’t blame the rise in population for waterlogging during rains. People will earn and buy houses. The state agencies charge levies from them and should build infrastructure.

US President said that he believes in the assessment of his intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in American elections in 2016.
Washington: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he holds his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin personally responsible for the alleged meddling into the 2016 general elections. Trump met Putin in Helsinki, Finland on Monday during which he said that he had raised the issue of Russian meddling into the US presidential elections.
“I have said that numerous times before, and I would say that is true, yeah,” Trump told CBS news when asked if he agrees with the US intelligence assessment that Russia meddled in the 2016 elections.
“But you haven’t condemned Putin, specifically. Do you hold him personally responsible?” he was asked.
“Well, I would, because he’s in charge of the country. Just like I consider myself to be responsible for things that happen in this country. So certainly as the leader of a country you would have to hold him responsible,” Trump said.
Yesterday, the US President said that he believes in the assessment of his intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in American elections in 2016 and his remarks contrary to this a day earlier in Helsinki was a case of misspeaking.
Earlier, he had faced a barrage of criticism from his opponents and even from his own party for not backing the American intelligence community’s assessment during a joint press conference with Putin in Helsinki on Monday.
“Very strong on the fact that we can’t have meddling, we can’t have any of that now look. We’re also living in a grown-up world. Will a strong statement, you know, President (Barack) Obama supposedly made a strong statement nobody heard it.”
“What they did hear is a statement he made to Putin’s very close friend. And that statement was not acceptable. Didn’t get very much play relatively speaking. But that statement was not acceptable. But I let him know we can’t have this, we’re not going to have it, and that’s the way it’s going to be,” Trump added.

Eyewitnesses recall that even during the last minutes, he appeared to have steered away the aircraft from the civilian area towards the fields to ensure that no harm was caused to the people living in that locality.
NEW DELHI: Indian Air Force (IAF) Squadron Leader Meet Kumar, flying a MiG-21 fighter jet, took off from Pathankot air base on Wednesday on a routine sortie. A little about an hour later, the aircraft crashed near Kangra in Himachal Pradesh, killing the officer who shared a very special bond with the jet and had spent more time with it than his wife.
Eyewitnesses recall that even during the last minutes, he appeared to have steered away the aircraft from the civilian area towards the fields to ensure that no harm was caused to the people living in that locality.
As soon as the news of the crash and his unfortunate death came out, a video shot by the Indian Air Force – A Date With An Airwarrior – featuring him went viral. Dressed up in his uniform, with his gear on, Squadron Leader Meet Kumar, can be heard recalling the special bond that he shared with this machine, which he said was much more than his love for his wife.
Here is the transcript of his statement:
“My name is Squadron Leader Meet Kumar. I am posted to 18 Squad. I have been flying this beautiful machine called MiG-21.”
“This machine is a multi-role aircraft wherein it can undertake any sort of missions. This aircraft is, particularly for a high landing speed. Every landing is different. On this aircraft, we have a 57 mm rocket. We can carry high-calibre and low calibre bombs. The aircraft is capable of carrying 8 bombs at a time and when you are flying this aircraft, you feel none other than God.”
“The bond that I share with this machine is very rare. It is more than my wife. We know each other very well. I have spent more time with this machine than my wife.”
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman expressed “deep grief” over his death. “Our heartfelt condolences to the family of brave pilot Sqn Ldr Meet Kumar, who we lost in the fateful crash,” she said. A Court of Inquiry (COI) has been ordered into the accident.
This is not the first instance of a pilot being killed in a MiG crash. In fact, the IAF has been grappling with rising incidents of accidents involving its flying platforms.
Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre had on Wednesday told the Lok Sabha that a total of 25 accidents involving IAF aircraft have been reported since 2015-16. He said that a total of 39 people died in the accidents and that IAF lost all the aircraft involved in the crashes. He said there were five accidents involving aircraft of the Army during the period in which four people were killed.
The MiG-21 jets were inducted into IAF in the early 1960s and many of these planes have been lost in crashes.

There were 25 people onboard the bus when the accident took place.
DEHRADUN: At least ten people have been killed and nine have been injured when the bis they were in, fell into a 250-metre gorge in Uttarakhand. The Uttarakhand Transport Corporation bus skidded off the Rishikesh-Gangotri Highway and fell into the gorge near Suryadhar.
Soon after the mishap, the local administration and police rushed to the spot. There were 25 people onboard the bus when the accident took place.

He passed electric current to her private parts with the help of a live wire leading to her death on the spot.
Raipur: A Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) jawan allegedly killed his wife by giving electric shock on her private parts on suspicion of infidelity in Raipur’s Balodabazar-Bhatapara district, the police said on Wednesday.
“The accused, identified as Suresh Miri (33), was taken into custody yesterday by Sargaon police in Mungeli district, where he had brought the body of his wife Laxmi (27) after allegedly killing her,” Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI), Sargaon police outpost, Paras Ram Jagat said on Wednesday.
During interrogation, Miri, a cook with the 6th battalion of the CAF in Dantewada district, confessed to killing Laxmi as he suspected her of having an extra-marital affair, Jagat added.
The couple, which lived in a housing board colony in Bhatapara along with their two children, had a heated argument yesterday afternoon, the ASI said. “When Laxmi was washing clothes in the bathroom, Miri went inside and started beating her. When she fell unconscious, Miri passed electric current to her private parts with the help of a live wire leading to her death on the spot,” he said.
Miri then called his in-laws and said that Laxmi had taken ill, Jagat said, adding that the accused then hired a van and took the body to his native village Khajri in the neighbouring Mungeli district.
Later, Miri told his in-laws that Laxmi had died due to the illness. His in-laws confronted him when they saw Laxmi’s body and informed the police.
A police team reached the village and took Miri into custody, Jagat said.
Bhatapara police have been informed about his custody and they will reach Sargaon to arrest him tomorrow, he said.
When contacted, Bahatapara police officials said the house of the accused, where the alleged crime took place, had been sealed.

The Congress has been attacking the Narendra Modi government alleging poor governance in the country since the BJP-led government came to power.
NEW DELHI: When the fans across the world were soaked in the FIFA World Cup fever, it seems that the Congress couldn’t help itself too. In a recent video posted by the Congress on its Congress handle, the party took a jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by using a video of French footballer Paul Pogba looking around baffled, asking ‘where, where, where..’. The headline of the video is “When someone says ‘Achhe Din'” and it is captioned as “Pogba and us, same feels”.
And the reactions were bound to follow:
The Congress has been attacking the Narendra Modi government alleging poor governance in the country since the BJP-led government came to power. Calling the PM’s promise of ‘achhe din’ a ‘jumla’, the Congress has repeatedly questioned the work done by the Centre.
Keeping up its attack on the Centre, the Congress had on Wednesday moved a no-confidence motion against the government in Parliament. However, since a Telegu Desam Party had moved the notice first, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan accepted his motion. The discussion and the voting on the same will be held on Friday.
The Congress and its chief Rahul Gandhi, who have been more active on social media in the last year, has been repetedly taking potshots at the Prime Minister and the BJP. On Wednesday, Rahul had posted a pop quiz on his Twitter handle after social activist Swami Agnivesh was physically and verbally abused in Jharkhand.
“Pop Quiz: I bow to the most powerful in the line. A person’s strength & power are all that are important to me. I use hatred & fear to maintain the hierarchy of power. I seek out the weakest & crush them. I rank all living beings based on their usefulness to me. Who am I?” tweeted the Congress president.
Last year, when Rahul was asked who has been running his Twitter account, he had replied to those criticising him with his sarcastic reply which had gone viral. He had posted a 13-second video of his dog asserting that it was Pidi who was tweeting from his account. “People (have) been asking who tweets for this guy_I’m coming clean_it’s me_Pidi_I’m way smarter than him. Look what I can do with a tweet..oops..treat!” he had tweeted.

JeM has been sending its trained agents to the national capital, said sources.
NEW DELHI: Intelligence agencies have warned of a possible terror attack led by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) ahead of Independence Day celebrations on August 15, sources told Zee Media.
Delhi Police are on high alert and keeping an eye on all movements in and out of the national capital.
The information was revealed by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists Syed Muneer-ul-Hassan Qadri, Ashiq Baba and Tariq Ahmad Dar, who were recently arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for their role in the Nagrota army camp attack in 2016 that killed seven Indian soldiers.
During interrogation, the counter-terror probe agency found out that JeM has been sending its trained agents, which mostly include misguided Kashmiri youth, under various garbs such as plumber etc, added sources.
In order to avenge the death of Burhan Wani and other slain commanders, the terrorists are planning a large-scale terror operation in Delhi and are likely to target crowded junctions.
“Qadri has revealed that he along with other valley based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) operatives were in touch with its leadership in Pakistan and had received a freshly infiltrated group of three Pakistani terrorists from the Samba sector a day before the attack (on November 29, 2016),” an NIA spokesperson had earlier revealed.
Following the inputs of intelligence agencies, Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik led held a high-level meeting in Mata Sundri College, which was attended by top officers including SHOs, ACPs and DCPs. The meeting’s top focus was on foiling terror attacks and anti-terror measures in the national capital.
The authorities police are also keeping an eye on all sewer lines, manholes leading up to the Red Fort and trees, door and windows and pillars facing the monument.

The victim was held captive at the woman’s residence, where he wasn’t allowed to visit his native place or meet his family.
KOLKATA: In a shocking event, a 40-year-old woman allegedly cut off the ears of her 20-year-old husband at gunpoint in Narkeldanga on Tuesday. The woman was assisted by her sisters in the act.
The victim, Tanveer, a resident of Narkeldanga, was rushed to NRS hospital by his family after they came to know about the incident.
Mumtaz and her sisters thought that Tanveer died after the incident but he somehow managed to escape.
Later at night, Tanveer’s family surrounded the police station accusing the cops of not filing an FIR and arresting the culprits. The police, however, claimed that the accused persons have absconded.
Half his wife’s age, Tanveer was duped by his friend into marrying Mumtaz two years ago.
According to sources, Mumtaz tortured Tanveer regularly. He tried eloping on several occasions but Mumtaz’s goons allegedly brought him back every time.
Recalling one such incident, Tanveer says that he ran away to Mullickpur but was brought back and brutally beaten by Mumtaz and her sisters.
“She cut my ears and if I tried to resist they would have killed me,” said Tanveer who was later held captive at Mumtaz’s residence and wasn’t allowed to meet his family or go back to his native place.
To end the torture, Tanveer’s mother sold their house and pleaded Mumtaz to let her son go in lieu of the huge amount of money. But the wife allegedly took the money and kept torturing him.
An investigation has been launched into the matter, said police.